Reading someone's mind can be bad for the soul
by boshrocks
Summary: Raven's telepathy is put to the good use of the team, but with some disasterous consequences to poor Raven. she learns more about her team mates histories. i love any reviews i get but flamers are unwelcome


Raven watched Robin as he sulked on the couch. They had been forced to return to the tower due to an injury to Robin's leg. She knew that he always hated to leave a mission early. They had been fighting Slade and still had no clue as to who he was. It was starting to really grate on Robin's nerves.

"Rae, could you please heal me so we can get back to the fight? I have to defeat Slade."

"No Robin. The others can handle it. Besides, your injuries cannot be healed solely by me. I need Cyborg's help. I can, however, remove most of the pain." Raven replied in her cold voice as she did so.

"I thought you could mend any injury."

"Not emotional wounds. You're pride and nerves have been worn down in this hunt for Slade, and I cannot mend that. Because you have been emotionally wounded by him, when you get physically wounded by your arch nemesis, you cannot heal as easily as you would have done if you had been hurt by the Hive."

"How do you know this?"

"Because it's the same for me. I never told you about my father did I? He's a demon, literally. His name was Trigon and he has never left me alone. Slade may be your enemy but my father is mine. Someday I'll take you to Nevermore."

"Where's that?"

"It's in my mind. It's where my emotions live. BB and Cy went there once and met some of them. I think they got a bit freaked out by them. I don't blame them either."

"What would happen if you didn't have to repress them all the time?"

"If I ever get too uncomfortable or angry then I make things explode but if I do lose control completely then I could probably blow up the earth. You must have noticed how lamps will blow up if my control slips a little."

"I would like to meet your emotions. It would be a great way to know more about you."

"Why do you wanna know about me?"

"Because you're a member of this team and I guess I'm a little bit nosey!"

"You got that right. Enough from me. What's your background? I told you about daddy, now it's only fair that you share some of your history."

"I don't remember much but when I was about two I was sent away to Gothem City to be raised and trained by Batman in the martial arts and I was his assistant before I came here. I don't know about my family. Batman was my family."

"You don't know who your family is?"

"I haven't seen them since I was four."

"Do you remember anything about them?"

"No. Is there anything you can do to help me remember? I really want to know what they're like. Please?"

"I could read your mind, that way I would delve into your memories and see what you remember. It may hurt your brain a bit. I'll try not to delve too deep, so I won't hurt you so much. It may feel strange, it always does. I promise not to look at anything too personal." She gave a small smile and moved to sit next to him. "Are you ready?"

"This is gonna sound really corny but I'm gonna quote Beast Boy."

"Oh great." She said sarcastically as he chuckled.

"Dude, I was born ready!"

There was a moment's pause before they looked at each other and laughed.

It was the first time he had ever heard her laugh.

"Wow, I didn't know you could laugh."

"I meditated before we went out to fight and I have more control over my emotions. They won't go haywire if I laugh a little bit."

"It was nice hearing you laugh. It's a new Raven that not many people get to see. Thanks. Okay, lets do this."

"Close your eyes. Try to relax as much as possible." He tensed up immediately. "I said relax!" she snapped, giving him a little slap round the face. He relaxed. She put her hands on his temples and started to chant her magic words quietly. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos!"

Over and over they came until it all went black and she saw a little boy with black hair sitting on the lap of another boy with black hair. This one was older and looked a lot like him. A woman sat opposite with another little black haired boy on her lap.

Raven knew that woman. Her name was Mearle. The boy in her lap was almost a mirror opposite of the one on the young man's lap. The boys looked like they were about two and the man looked like he was about thirteen.

"So, now what?" the man asked.

"Now that your father is dead, we must decide what to do with the boys. As much as I do not wish to part with them I feel I must. Their destinies have already been written. Robin must go to Gothem City where he will be taught by Batman in all his arts. I only hope he will be fine. Rook will have to learn from his older brother, you Slade. I must tell you that I am pregnant again and there is a prophesy which says she will cause the end of the world when she reaches her eighteenth birthday. By rights I would kill her myself right now if I could, but I cannot. He would surely kill me."

"Who is he, mother?"

"The thing that made me pregnant with her. She will be a half demon. Therefore I cannot kill her. Also, I am a mother, and I cannot kill a child…even one who is not born yet."

The boy on the man's lap then stretched out a tiny hand to the other boy, whose identical hand came out to meet it.

"The twins will have to be separated now. There is no point procrastinating. Look after Rook, won't you dear?"

"Of course I will. If you can ever see us again, then I will make sure you are proud of him."

"Thank you. I will try to see them again but it will be difficult. Oh, how I will miss them both, and you as well, my brave boy."

The people vanished and the Titan's Tower loomed up with a Robin of about eleven standing there with the rest of the titans about to go inside for the first time. Then they too dissolved and the image of present day Slade and Red X flashed up with Robin and Mearle standing around herself. When had that happened? Robin said he had never met his mother.

"Okay, I think I have enough. Too much in fact." She released his temples and the living room swam back into focus.

"That felt really weird. I hope it was helpful. What did you see?" he asked eagerly.

"Did you know you had a twin?"

"No. I told you I don't know anything about my family."

"I need to fetch something. I'll be back in a moment." She floated out of the room and returned a minute later with a photo frame.

"Do you recognize this woman?" she sat down next to him and carefully passed over the picture. The photo was a woman, Mearle.

"I had a dream about her once, and you were in it, and Slade and Red X. We were all circling you but you had these strange markings on your bare arms."

"I saw that dream, and the markings are real." She took off her cloak and rolled up her sleeves to reveal the black markings on her skin.

"What do they mean?"

"They are ancient symbols that tell the prophesy that was written about me. I was born with them. It is written in ancient Azerathian. The woman is your mother. Her name was Mearle."

"Why do you look like her? And how did you get a picture of her?"

"Mearle, I knew her a long time ago. She came from my home planet."

"You're hiding something, aren't you? Tell me."

"What I saw in that memory disturbed me a lot. I was never told about you and I assume that only your older brother and your mother knew about me. I saw our first meeting outside this tower when we were very young. You are about two years older than me, aren't you?"

"Only just, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"I have a question for you. You said your father was a demon, right? Well, how come you look so normal?"

"My mother is…was a normal woman who came from Azerath. She…is in that picture."

As she spoke she got up to make some herbal tea.

"But there's only one woman in the picture."

"You know, for being the brains of the team you can be really dense sometimes. Your mother is in the picture, and so is mine, but there's only one woman in the picture. Do the math Robin, it's not hard to understand." She drifted to the door as it opened revealing the rest of the team.

"Well, we didn't beat him, again. No surprise there."

"Why are you carrying BB? Oh, he's broken his ankle again, hasn't he?" Raven said with a small smile.

"Rae, please, fix me!" Beast Boy whined.

"How did you do it this time?"

"I'm in a lot of pain here! Just fix it! PLEASE!"

She sighed and mended his ankle before shooting a look at Robin and gliding out of the doors clutching her mug to her chest like a comforter.

"What you got there, Rob?" Cyborg said putting Beast Boy on the couch.

"It's a photo of my mom."

"But you didn't know her."

"Yeah, but Raven did. She read my mind for me and saw her."

"She looks like friend Raven." Starfire said staring intently at the photo.

"She does, a lot like Raven. Give it to me, I'll give it back to her. I think I know where she's gone. See you later." Cyborg left the room after Raven and made his way to the roof.

Raven was sitting on the edge with a large photo album on her lap. Cyborg came and sat next to her.

"Hey." He said quietly and she looked up. "What was the thing with this picture about? She looks like you. You don't just know her do you?"

"She's my mother, and Robin's. when I looked into his memories I saw his family. He has two brothers, one is his identical twin, the other…is Slade. His mother is my mother. He's my brother. He just isn't a half demon, like me. I haven't told him the truth, I gave him the clues and I'm hoping that he can do the math."

"He's a bright boy, he'll get it."

"I also know who Red X is. I mean the real Red X, not Robin in the costume. It's his brother, his twin. That's why they were exactly the same in body build and height."

"Makes sense. So, what you got there?"

"My photo album. I brought it over from Azerath. The photo that you all saw was taken at the same time as this one was."

She turned a page and revealed a picture of Mearle holding a four year old version of Raven.

"Is that you and your mother?"

"Yes. I was four and she was the centre of my life. It was the Mearle and Raven show, just us. But he had to change things. When you came to Nevermore I said I had issues with my father. He raped my mother and got her pregnant with me, six years later he killed her…in front of me. I have not yet forgiven him and I doubt I ever shall. He took away the person I loved most in the whole world. She was my mother and my best friend."

"Can I see the album?"

She passed it over and he turned the pages and when he came to the photos of the team on a day off, or a newspaper clipping of a mission he would chuckle or say "I remember that." Or "That was a great day."

Raven smiled and looked up at the moon reverently.

"Hey, Rae, I'm sorry about your mom. And I won't tell Robin if you don't want me to."

"Thanks."


End file.
